ITV's factual offerings, in stark contrast, could only muster audiences of 1.83m (7.9%) for Inside Guinness World Records at 8pm (+1: 122,000) and 1.97m (8.3%) for On the Run at 9pm (+1: 162k).

MasterChef: The Professionals recorded a new all-time high of 3.58m (15.4%) for BBC Two, after which 1.8m (7.6%) watched Cuba with Simon Reeve, and The Sarah Millican Television Programme maintained a steady 1.21m (6.2%).

Channel 4's Is Our Weather Getting Any Worse? was a surprise hit in the 8pm slot with 2.23m (9.6%) and 367k on timeshift, then 1.74m (7.3%) caught Heston's Fantastical Food as well as 229k on Channel 4 +1.

For Channel 5, only Body of Proof surpassed the million viewer mark, averaging 1.05m (4.4%) in the 9pm hour, while League Cup football scoring 1.1m (4.7%) between 7.30pm and 10pm catapulted Sky Sports 1 above the Richard Desmond broadcaster.